A long-awaited match between FTR and Grizzled Young Veterans is set for tonight’s AEW Collision.
The feud between the two teams dates back to All In when GYV made their AEW return by jumping FTR after failing to capture the Tag Team titles from the Young Bucks.
TNT Champion Jack Perry will put the title up against Christopher Daniels who answered Perry’s open challenge during Rampage. He said while he is still an interim EVP, he is still a wrestler at heart.
Yuka Sakazaki, who has been out of action with injury, will make her return to take on Serena Deeb.
Other matches will see The Conglomeration (Mark Briscoe & Kyle O’Reilly) team with Hologram against The Beast Mortos and the Premier Athletes, Private Party & Komander will be in action, Bang Bang Gang will take on the Cage Of Agony, Queen Aminata will face Robyn Renegade, and Wheeler Yuta will face Anthony Henry.
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Collision began with TNT Champion Jack Perry riding to the Nutter Center in his Scapegoat bus. He walked in from the parking lot and made his entrance for the opening match. Tony Schiavone & Arthur Ashe Stadium headliner Nigel McGuinness were on the call.
AEW TNT Title Match – Jack Perry defeated Christopher Daniels to retain
A simple TV win for Perry. I understand Daniels going for a measure of revenge against the Elite, but what are we doing here? Is Daniels still the Vice Principal? Is this power struggle still happening? Most importantly, would anyone care if this aspect of the Elite was dropped cold? It’s a bad story that would serve everyone better if they left it in the rearview.
This match came about after Vice Principal Daniels accepted Perry’s open challenge on last night’s Rampage. It was announced during the entrances that Hook vs. Roderick Strong for the FTW Championship was official for Dynamite: Grand Slam.
After the opening exchanges, Perry took advantage with a rebound lariat. Perry held serve, scoring a nearfall off of a missile dropkick. Daniels got a cut on the top of his head but was able to catch Perry with an STO. He fired up, hitting another STO and a Death Valley Driver for a nearfall. An Angel’s Wings counter led to a pinning predicament that ended with Perry sending Daniels into the mat with force by holding onto the ropes on an O’Connor Roll. Perry hit the Glass Jaw knee to retain the title.
After the match, Perry said that the people who don’t like him are the ones who can’t handle the truth. He then got on his bus and drove away.
A visibly distracted Wheeler Yuta was in the back with Lexy Nair, saying that he didn’t want to share any information about Bryan Danielson out of respect for his family. He hadn’t spoken to any of the other BCC members since All Out and would try to use Danielson’s lessons to focus for his match tonight.
Hologram & The Conglomeration (Kyle O’Reilly & Mark Briscoe) defeated The Beast Mortos & The Premier Athletes (Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese) (w/Josh Woods & Mark Sterling)
During their entrance, Sterling explained that he used some of Daivari’s money to pay off Mortos to help the Athletes with their Conglomeration & Hologram problems. Mortos seemingly took control with shoulder blocks to all three of his opponents, but Hologram came back with a lucha armdrag that sent Mortos to the floor. O’Reilly got caught on the wrong side of the ring, getting boots from everyone on the floor as we went to a commercial.
O’Reilly fought for the tag as we came back, getting the hot tag to Briscoe. Briscoe ran wild, getting the fisherman’s buster on Nese for a nearfall. Briscoe sent Mortos to the floor, but Nese caught the now-legal Hologram with a rolling uppercut. Hologram hit a Destroyer to Nese, kicking off a move train that turned into a dive train, ending with Briscoe hitting his step-up dive off an interfering Sterling’s back. Hologram hit a 720 DDT for the win.
After the match, Mortos attacked Hologram before O’Reilly and Briscoe fought him off.
We got footage of Orange Cassidy & Chris Jericho at last night’s CMLL Anniversary show. Cassidy was in a trios match, while Jericho wrestled Mistico in the main event. After Jericho’s match, Cassidy helped Mistico fight off a Jericho & Big Bill post-match attack. Cassidy was with Renee Paquette for an interview but was quickly attacked by the Learning Tree. They stuck Cassidy’s head in the stolen backpack before Jericho broke the Best Friends picture over Cassidy’s head…which was in a backpack. Seems a little backwards.
There was a short video – no pun intended – with Stokely Hathaway looking for some AEW tape to watch. All of his choices were tag team matches from AEW/ROH history, like Swerve in Our Glory vs. The Acclaimed & The Young Bucks vs. Sting & Darby Allin. It seems like Stokely may be interested in the tag team titles.
AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May was backstage with Lexy Nair, where she announced that she wouldn’t be having her championship celebration in the Wish version of Cincinnati known as Dayton, Ohio. May said that she had her best times with Mina Shirakawa and that she needed Shirakawa to properly celebrate. Yuka Sakazaki introduced herself and said that she wanted May’s belt. May said that she would rip Sakazaki’s head off, and Sakazaki promptly no-sold her.
Wheeler Yuta defeated Anthony Henry (w/ Beef)
This was a good match, with Henry taking advantage of Yuta’s absentmindedness until he brought up Bryan Danielson. Yuta is going to be a pivotal part of this BCC implosion angle one way or another, so it’s good to see him get some TV wins in the meantime.
McGuinness noted that Yuta forgot to tape his wrists, noting that he wasn’t in a good headspace and was forgetting details. Henry had control early on, hitting a double stomp. Yuta got hit with a forearm and attempted his rebound into the ring but fell to the floor instead. Henry dumped Yuta into the barricade with a suplex.
After a commercial, Henry scored a nearfall with an Air Raid Crash. Yuta was able to hit his rebound into the ring on the second attempt, scoring with a German suplex. Henry rocked Yuta with a knee, then caught Yuta on the outside with a running dropkick. Henry hit a top-rope double stomp in the ring for a nearfall.
Henry mocked Bryan Danielson, which fired Yuta up. Yuta clubbered on Henry in the corner before hitting a dive to Henry on the floor. Yuta took Henry on a barricade tour around the ring and dropped Beef with a boot. Yuta drilled Henry with the hammer-and-anvil elbows and got the submission with the Cattle Mutilation.
Serena Deeb & Queen Aminata were backstage with Lexy Nair. Deeb said that Aminata had a lot of potential, but she wasn’t ready to be a top star. Her offer to join Deeb’s Dojo still stood, but Aminata didn’t have time for it as she had her own match to get ready for. Deeb turned her attention to her opponent tonight, Yuka Sakazaki. She brought up their abandoned feud from earlier this year, saying that the mere thought of fighting Deeb caused Sakazaki to break her leg, and that Deeb would make things much worse tonight.
Anna Jay was backstage. She talked about her Japanese tour with Stardom, noting that she was tired and beat up, but still wanted more. She owed Mariah May a receipt and had never been in the ring with Mercedes Mone. Jay said that if anyone wanted to see how much better she was, they could try her.
Komander & Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) (w/Alex Abrahantes) defeated Jon Cruz, Lord Crewe & Ren Jones
In a pre-match interview, Private Party wasn’t happy with how their match got taken away from them on Dynamite by Jon Moxley’s Fight Cult – not an official name – and said that they have never backed down from a fight. Kassidy said that they would cross paths at some point. I don’t like Private Party’s chances.
This is apparently the match that was meant to happen on Dynamite. I like the continuity of running the match on the weekend show. Komander hit a big ropewalk dive, then elevated Quen into position for the Gin & Juice to get the win.
Tony Schiavone asked Nigel McGuinness how he could be sure that Bryan Danielson would be able to compete at Grand Slam. McGuinness said that he nor Tony Khan were sure. He explained that Jon Moxley was only speculating that Danielson would miss Grand Slam. Since Darby Allin put his scheduled title shot against Danielson on the line instead, McGuinness asked for a match with Danielson in case he was cleared in time for the show. McGuinness said that if Danielson didn’t show up, it would be out of cowardice, not out of physical inability.
McGuinness threw to a highlight package of his matches with Danielson in Ring of Honor, saying that no one had beaten Danielson as convincingly as he had. Sixteen years later, McGuinness was in the best shape of his life, while Danielson was a physical wreck. At the commentary desk, McGuinness said that even though Danielson would still be World Champion after Grand Slam, he would still end Danielson’s career in New York.
(This was both build for the McGuinness/Danielson match, and an attempt to patch over the plot hole from Dynamite regarding Darby Allin’s title shot. It was a fine attempt, explaining that Moxley basically conned Allin into putting his title match on the line. But if Danielson can possibly be cleared for Grand Slam, then Allin should still get the title match that he earned for that show. They worked themselves into a logic gap, then tried to smooth it over after the fact. I get doing the violent angle on the PPV to get people talking and get some late buys, but it would have been smoother to do it at Grand Slam itself to get Allin’s title match out of the way. He can earn another one down the line if that’s the direction they want to go.)
Yuka Sakazaki defeated Serena Deeb
While Sakazaki’s music annoys the hell out of me, she’s a fresh name for Mariah May to defend against.
AEW Women’s Champion Mariah May came out to commentary, asking McGuinness if she inspired his comeback. Sakazaki took Deeb around the world in a pinning combination, but Deeb came back with a neckbreaker in the ropes as we went to commercial.
After the break, Sakazaki made her comeback, scoring with a missile dropkick and a suplex. May kept assuming that Sakazaki was a child. Deeb hit a German suplex and a short-arm clothesline for a nearfall. Sakazaki fought out of a Detox position and hit a sliding lariat for a nearfall. Deeb hit a powerbomb and locked on a Stretch Muffler. Sakazaki got to the ropes and got back to her feet, trading forearms with Deeb until Deeb dropped her with a lariat. Deeb went for Detox, but Sakazaki pulled her up into a Northern Lights Bomb. Sakazaki hit the Magical Girl Splash for the win.
After the match, May jumped Sakazaki on the ramp. May went for the Storm Zero, but Sakazaki fought out and dropped her with a superkick. Sakazaki held up the Women’s Title belt as the crowd chanted her name.
We got another stylized video from The Outrunners.
Top Flight, Lio Rush, & Action Andretti were walking outside when Andretti got hot about their recent results. He was upset at how all of them had lost big opportunities this week, while the rest of the group tried to calm him down. Andretti said that they needed to get their act together and stormed off.
Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson, Austin & Colten Gunn) defeated Cage Of Agony (Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage & Toa Liona)
Kaun cut off Austin Gunn with a lariat to take control after the opening exchanges. After a commercial, Colten got the hot tag and ran wild, scoring a nearfall with a jumping chop to Liona’s head. The referee missed a small package trying to clear the ring, allowing Liona to hit a Pounce. The Pendulum Powerbomb from Cage of Agony got a nearfall broken up by Robinson.
Austin low-bridged Cage as he hit the ropes, allowing Colten to drop both Gates with a DDT. Robinson tagged in and ran wild on Cage. Cage countered The Juice Is Loose and hit a discus lariat, running wild on all three of his opponents. Another pendulum powerbomb got cut off, with the Gunns hitting Cage with the 3:10 To Yuma. Robinson hit The Juice Is Loose to get the win.
An angry Serena Deeb was in the back when Queen Aminata walked past for her match. She mockingly asked Deeb if her performance in her loss was how it was done.
Queen Aminata defeated Robyn Renegade
Aminata vs. Deeb can be a solid feud to get Aminata some focus.
Renegade gave a solid effort in her hometown, but Aminata scored the win with the Brain Drain headbutt. After the match, Serena Deeb jumped Aminata after the match with a chop block. Deeb held Aminata in a single-leg crab until the referee corps forced her away.
The House of Black were in their dark room. Matthews said that someone challenged them and that they didn’t like their odds. I think they were referring to Top Flight, as Andretti said something about Brody King in their segment earlier tonight.
FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) defeated Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake & Zack Gibson)
This was an odd result. The Grizzled Young Veterans just came in, and FTR are bulletproof as a team. Why put them over instead of the new team? This was a solid match, but it felt like they were holding back for another match.
Harwood and Drake traded shots to start, with Wheeler scoring a quick count on a slingshot shoulder block. Drake dragged Harwood to their corner and got a tag to Gibson, who helped Drake hit quick offense on Harwood to get the upper hand. Wheeler laid out Gibson with a lariat, allowing Harwood to get a nearfall on Drake with a sunset flip. Harwood hit a belly-to-back suplex as we went to commercial.
After the commercial, the Veterans had control of Harwood, hitting another flurry of offense to keep Harwood from making the tag. Harwood made the tag, but Gibson took the referee’s attention to keep the tag from being registered. Harwood ducked a leg lariat and made his way to the corner for the legal tag, allowing Wheeler to run wild. Drake countered a powerslam into a small package for a nearfall.
Gibson snuck a tag, holding Wheeler in place for a Drake enzuigiri. They went for Grit Your Teeth, but Harwood pulled Drake out of the ring. We got a pinning predicament, ending with Drake cutting off a spike piledriver and Gibson hitting a hammerlock driver. Wheeler cut off a Doomsday Device, allowing Harwood to lock on a Sharpshooter. Drake submitted, but the Veterans kept brawling with FTR after the match. The Outrunners came out to make the save for FTR and shook hands with them afterwards.
The card for Dynamite was run down, with the addition of Mariah May & Serena Deeb vs. Queen Aminata & Yuka Sakazaki. Also announced for next week’s Collision was Dustin Rhodes & Sammy Guevara vs. Matt Taven & Mike Bennett in a Bunkhouse Brawl for the ROH World Tag Team Titles.
